


Traveling Light

by Curator



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M, Merry Month of Cohen, Tumblr Fic Event, established relationship (or is it?), this never would have happened on the show but it would have explained so much if it did
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-05 08:14:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18824722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Curator/pseuds/Curator
Summary: For the Merry Month of Cohen Star Trek Fandom Event.Selection:If you want a partner, take my hand, orIf you want to strike me down in angerHere I standI'm your man— “I’m Your Man” by Leonard CohenConcept: A touch of the familiar can help … or hurt.





	Traveling Light

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to BlackVelvet and Klugtiger for betas that pushed me to do better. Appreciation to MiaCooper for organizing this fandom event.

It started a month into their journey home. She wanted to test herself with a creative, mental challenge that had nothing to do with an isolated ship, blended crew, or unfamiliar stars. 

The computer didn’t have a bio-scan, of course, so she used photographs and her memory. The eyes were the toughest. The corner crinkles were critical, though, and she spent weeks on them. 

After three months of programming, it was done. Time to stop, she told herself, you’ve taken this far enough, Kathryn.

But what she said was: “Computer, begin program.”

The hologram blinked, smiled, and said, “Hey, Kath, how was your day?”

“There was bit of trouble with the plasma manifolds,” she replied. “But everything got sorted out. How about yours?”

Most weeks, she could find only about an hour for it. Her work came first.

Of course she had sex with the hologram. But the hologram also argued, teased, challenged, encouraged, and joked. It conversed in the beautiful banalities of the everyday. When it kissed her neck, she felt a rush of warmth. When it pulled her into a hug, she sagged against it, gaining and losing strength in its arms.

She never looked at the hologram when she told the computer to end the program.

After more than three years in the Delta Quadrant, _Voyager’s_ comm system went down and the bridge needed to contact her. Tuvok overrode her privacy settings and walked in as she and the hologram were debating the merits of grey tweed or blue chenille for a new sofa. 

“Tuvok!” the hologram said. “I haven’t seen you in ages! How’s T’Pel?”

Tuvok ignored the hologram and informed his captain of intermittent systems failures and her need to report to the bridge. 

She didn’t look at either of them as she ended the program. 

There was a wordless walk through the corridor, then, just before the turbolift doors opened to the bridge, she turned to her friend. “I’ll talk to the Doctor,” she said.

“A wise choice,” Tuvok replied. 

The Doctor said there was no cause for concern as long as it didn’t interfere with her duties. Surprised, she nodded and left sickbay.

She didn’t run the program for months. 

Then, on her mother’s birthday, she found herself in front of holodeck 2, tapping in her privacy code. 

“Kath!” the hologram said. “That was a long mission. Want to tell me about it?”

When she got a letter from the man, she went to delete the hologram. But, instead, she set the weather to a thunderstorm and entered the simulation.

The hologram found her in their bed. She told it to leave her alone, that she wanted to listen to the rain. The hologram pressed. She yelled at it. It yelled back, since that’s what he would have done. She broke. 

“How could you do this to me?” she cried.

The hologram held her. “I would never,” it said. 

She believed it.

The hologram comforted her every way it could. She let it, then she looked into the eyes she had so carefully designed and said, “Computer, end program.”


End file.
